Spanish Social Contract

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Unpublished pathologists' reports have revealed that black leader Steve Biko died as a result of head injuries, and that he suffered brain damage as well as acute kidney failure. These revelations point clearly to the South African police force as the killers of Biko, making nonsense of Police Minister James Kruger's claim that Biko had died because of a 7-day hunger strike. There are now reports that a public Francoist Interior Minister Martin Villa has instructed the police to take tougher action against strike pickets That is one of the first bitter fruits of part two of the so-called Moncloa Pact.

Filthy agreement

Through this filthy agreement the main workers' parties have agreed to give parliamentary support to a programme of anti-working class economic measures. That was part one. Part two, signed last Wednesday, a few hours before Villa issued his new instructions to the ! police, is supposed to be the programme of "democratic reforms" which the workers' parties received in return for accepting austerity.

Apart from some vague words about freedom speech and assembly and the establishment of a committee including an MP to oversee the broadcasting service, the main point of the agreement concerns the police.

It proposes to reduce the autonomy of the police authorities and bring them under the closer supervision of the Minister of the Interior, and so, the Communist Party and Socialist Party blandly argue, under parliamentary and democratic control.

The Socialist and CP leaders, thus criminally give their blessing to the continued existence, virtually unchanged, of all the repressive apparatus of Francoism.

This "democratic" police force has been minutely trained in the suppression of democratic rights and all workers' and popular mobilisations.

With Martin Villa at their SAAA inquest into the death is to be held.

id, there is every reason to nk that they will continue put their training to use.

Formal blessing

The difference is that the Moncloa Pact now gives them the formal blessing of the purported leaders of the working class. The only possible principled demand about the Francoist police (and army) is for their complete dissolution and for the formation of workers defence squads to organise defence against the "democratic police force".

In every major workers' demonstration in Spain, masses of people show their support for these demands by chanting the slogan "Dissolution of the oppressive apparatus", , thus paying no attention to the CP and Socialist bureaucracies in their night and day struggle to attempt to silence this principled, militant and independent demand made by millions of Spanish workers.

SOUR PHOTO: Mark Rusher, IFL.

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which are still completely illegal in Spain.

SAAN AN WAYDI